Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies – Psalm 23:5

Rejected applications, separation and/or divorce, those dissatisfied no matter what, sarcastic teens letting you know you are out of touch, a snub here, a lack of coöperation there, even downright hostility — hey, it’s a fact of life.

Even in the midst of God’s banquet-like blessing the Psalmist pointedly adds, “my enemies all around!

Why can’t we all get along?! There could be lots of reasons or no reason, it’s life. While the Bible doesn’t say why, it does says what to do about it.

Don’t pay people back with evil for the evil they do to you. Focus your thoughts on those things that are considered noble. As much as it is possible, live in peace with everyone. Don’t take revenge, dear friends. Instead, let God’s anger take care of it. After all, Scripture says, “I alone have the right to take revenge. I will pay back, says the Lord.” — Romans 12:17-19 (God’s Word Translation)

Be as friendly as you can — work on your people skills

Don’t retaliate, turn those feelings over to God (he judges what’s right better than you)

Choose to not let it bother you, in fact, choose to happily move on with Christ ready to help even your enemies find the life changing power of Jesus

A cautionary tale about getting so wrapped up in the moment we fail to notice the bigger picture.

Leah was happy because her servant had a second child by her husband, Jacob.

She was so focused on the rivalry with her sister, she saw everything from a win/lose perspective and thought she was winning.

But think about that a minute! (pause here) What she did not think about was that her husband was sleeping around with the hired help, and more than once! Culture or not, no wife wants her husband intimate with others.

Intensity often blocks us from thinking things through. Israel’s prime minister, Golda Meyer, in 1957 said, “Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us”. Love her or hate her she was saying that they were not thinking about what was really important.

As followers of Jesus we need to not be so focused on “winning” that we miss the bigger picture of what is right.